{"id":330950,"date":"2026-03-15T15:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T15:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/330950\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T15:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T15:11:07","slug":"create-hedgehog-havens-and-seven-other-ways-to-help-our-prickly-friends-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/330950\/","title":{"rendered":"Create hedgehog havens \u2013 and seven other ways to help our prickly friends | Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

With stumpy, speedy legs, questing snouts and a fierce quiver of needles, hedgehogs are enchantingly strange, like fantasy creatures from a medieval bestiary<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s the nation\u2019s favourite wild animal \u2013 every time there\u2019s a vote or a poll, the hedgehog wins,\u201d says ecologist Hugh Warwick, AKA \u201cHedgehog Hugh\u201d<\/a>, author of the Cull of the Wild<\/a> and hedgehog champion.<\/p>\n

Why do they need to be saved?<\/p>\n

Hedgehogs are in trouble. Since 2000, the UK has lost between 30% and 75% of its rural hedgehogs<\/a>. Intensive agriculture practices mean habitat has been lost, while the use of agrochemicals \u2013 such as pesticides \u2013 has affected populations of insects that hedgehogs eat. They\u2019re vulnerable to cars (which kill an estimated 167,000-335,000 annually<\/a>), strimmers and climate change. \u201cWe think long, warm, wet winters may pull hedgehogs out of hibernation more frequently, which might impact their ability to thrive,\u201d says Warwick. It\u2019s not all bad news: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen stabilising and early signs of recovery in urban and suburban areas,\u201d says Grace Johnson, hedgehog officer for the People\u2019s Trust for Endangered Species<\/a>, but they still need our help.<\/p>\n

Photograph: Anne Coastey\/AlamyHow can you help?<\/p>\n

Do citizen science
\u201cThere\u2019s really good conservation work you can do from your sofa,\u201d says Warwick. The National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme<\/a> uses camera footage to collect data on hedgehog numbers, and it needs volunteers to help identify hedgehogs (and other animals) on clips. You just need to register for a MammalWeb account<\/a>, then select the NHMP to start spotting \u2013 there\u2019s guidance on MammalWeb to help work out what you\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n

Forge hedgehog highways
\u201cThe ideal habitat for hedgehogs is a mosaic landscape,\u201d says Warwick. A 13x13cm gap in or under your fence or wall will ensure hedgehogs can get in and out, and a network of these holes becomes a hedgehog highway<\/a>. \u201cYou may have a log pile, your neighbour may have a wildlife-friendly pond, their neighbour may have a compost heap \u2013 and as long as hedgehogs can move between all of these gardens, then this apparently fragmented landscape is really well connected.\u201d Talk to neighbours to get their agreement and spread the word; you can also buy<\/a> or make signs to ensure hedgehog holes don\u2019t get accidentally blocked.<\/p>\n

Photograph: Chris McLoughlin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Make your garden a hedgehog buffet \u2026
\u201cHedgehogs have quite a generalist diet,\u201d says Johnson; common garden bugs such as caterpillars, beetles, earwigs and worms all form part of it. To encourage them, \u201cthink about a variety of structures. You want to have some thicker shrubs, wildflowers, maybe some ornamental grasses, patches of bare soil to forage for earthworms \u2026 Features like log and leaf piles can be really good for that creepy-crawly prey that they need.\u201d Encouraging insects includes avoiding pesticides. \u201cWe know that glyphosate has an impact on worms, which are central to hedgehogs\u2019 diet,\u201d says Warwick.<\/p>\n

\u2026 But feed carefully
\u201cTheir natural diet is in decline,\u201d says Johnson. \u201cSo supplementary food can top it up.\u201d Supporting their natural food sources is best, but if you want to feed hedgehogs, offer kitten biscuits, which have guaranteed percentages of meat. Clean bowls regularly and put food in a structure that prevents other animals getting in (an upturned plastic box with a hedgehog-sized hole, say) \u2013 \u201cotherwise, you will be feeding the neighbours\u2019 cats,\u201d warns Warwick. There are concerns, though: hedgehogs are normally solitary and feeding can bring them together artificially, leading to fights; there\u2019s concern around disease transmission and creating over-dependence. Moving your feeding station around will encourage hogs to forage, Johnson adds.<\/p>\n

Putting food in a feeding structure prevents other animals getting in. Photograph: Nature Picture Library\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Create hedgehog havens
Hedgehogs need places to sleep as well as eat. \u201cThink about nice little dark, shaded areas,\u201d says Johnson. \u201cThey can shelter and build there. Low, denser shrubs are going to be brilliant for them.\u201d You could also install a hedgehog house<\/a> in a quiet, sheltered spot with plenty of deciduous tree leaves and twigs nearby for bedding.<\/p>\n

Help hedgehogs carefully
An injured hedgehog always needs help. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so \u201cif you see a hedgehog during the day looking like it\u2019s drunk or sunbathing, listless or wobbly, or if it has flies around it, get it into a box then call a hedgehog rescue,\u201d says Warwick. However, as Johnson explains, \u201cif you see one out in the day in the spring or summer, it\u2019s got leaves and twigs and it\u2019s moving around, it\u2019s likely to just be a female hedgehog building a nest for its young.\u201d In winter, hedgehogs should be hibernating, \u201cSo if you saw one out in the day, that could be a sign that its nest has been disturbed, or that there\u2019s something wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always advise contacting a rescue if you\u2019re unsure,\u201d says Katie South of Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Rescue<\/a> in Cornwall. Alternatively, call the British Hedgehog Preservation Society<\/a> (01584 890801), says Johnson. \u201cYou can talk through what you\u2019re seeing; they can give you advice and potentially put you in touch with a local, independent hedgehog carer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hedgehog rescue centres can give advice. Photograph: Les Stocker\/Alamy<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re advised to bring a hedgehog to a rescue, or need to secure it while you seek advice, South recommends handling it with thick gardening gloves and placing it in a high-sided box with an old towel or some hay or straw. Provide warmth \u2013 protection against shock \u2013 by filling an empty milk carton or bottle with warm water, and remember how stressful it will be for them. \u201cKeep them nice and quiet and dark, and minimise handling,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Do not disturb!
Hedgehogs are vulnerable during hibernation and especially now, as people start thinking about spring cleaning their outside space. \u201cMake sure you do a thorough, careful check before you do any kind of clearing or gardening,\u201d says Johnson. She advises staying vigilant during the spring-summer breeding season, too, especially before mowing or strimming. \u201cAnd if you do have wilder areas, leave them undisturbed \u2013 hopefully you\u2019ll have some happy hedgehogs in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their absence of a fight-or-flight reflex means we can get wonderfully close to hedgehogs, but it\u2019s best to keep your distance. \u201cPeople seem to forget they\u2019re a wild animal,\u201d says South. \u201cIntervening when it\u2019s not necessary, weighing hedgehogs that are visiting their garden every night, causing them stress or picking them up \u2026\u201d If you\u2019re concerned, call a rescue.<\/p>\n

Photograph: Kevin Sawford\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Be a hedgehog advocate
\u201cYou don\u2019t need a garden to be a hedgehog advocate,\u201d says Warwick. Johnson suggests writing to your council. \u201cEncourage them to manage the land in a way that\u2019s sympathetic to hedgehogs and other wildlife. Hedgehog highways, log piles, leaf piles: all of those can be incorporated into local parks.\u201d Even talking to friends and sharing social media posts makes a difference: \u201cHedgehogs are coming out of hibernation; they\u2019re going to be needing food, they\u2019re going to be needing shelter. Helping spread the word is a really good way to help.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With stumpy, speedy legs, questing snouts and a fierce quiver of needles, hedgehogs are enchantingly strange, like fantasy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-330950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}